Sales promotional cards



Sept. 12, 1961 R. H. HOESE SALES PROMOTIONAL CARDS Filed April 25, 1959 THIS CARD MAY BE WORTH 100 CASH ANY THEATER I000 MAIN ST. ANYTOWN UEA.

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Void IF Seal ls B NO BLANKS ATTORNEY United States Patent C) 2,999,698 SALES PROMOTIONAL CARDS Robert H. Hoese, 6162 Ellsworth St., Dallas, Tex. Filed A r. 23, 1959, Ser. No. 808,388 2 Claims. (Cl. 283--'6) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in sales promotional cards.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, now abandoned, Serial No. 746,442, filed July 3, 1958, for Sales Promotional Card.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved sales promotional card having novel means for positively concealing indicia which designates an award or prize to be given to a customer upon completion of a predetermined amount of patronage whereby the award or prize cannot be ascertained without mutiliating the card or the concealing means, or both.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved sales promotional card bearing prize data concealed by an overlying seal which is attached to the card in such manner that it can be readily detached to reveal the data, but which cannot be tampered with or removed wholly or partially without detection.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved sales promotional card, of the character described, wherein the seal has its perimeter secured to the card by thread stitching, preferably in a closely zigzag form, to prevent separation without detection, and wherein said card has indicia on its rear face underlying and complementary to the indicia for blending therevw'th' and coacting with said seal to conceal said indicia.

A particular object of the invention is to provide an improved sales promotional card having indicia on the face thereof which designates an award or prize to be given to a holder under predetermined conditions, which indicia is covered and concealed by an overlying seal member of separate material having its perimeter secured to the card by thread stitching, preferably in a closely stitched zigzag form, and wherein the card is formed of a relatively low tensile strength paperboard and the seal member is formed of thicker high tensile strength Leatherette paper or similar material, and wherein the stitching securing the seal member to the card is formed in such a manner that one set of apices of the zigzag stitching passes through both the seal member and the card and the other set passes through only the card itself closely adjacent the edge of the seal member whereby any effort to detach the seal member from the card will result in mutilation of the card, the stitches being formed closely enough together to provide an effective tear perforation strip at the apices formed in the card alone.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the reading of the following description of a device constructed in accordance with the invention, and reference to the accompanying drawings thereof, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a sales promotional card constructed in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of the card.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of a portion of the card showing partial detachment of its seal.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view of the card taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged, rear elevational view of a portion of the card showing the indicia on its rear face; and,

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of a modified form of the card, seal and stitching.

In the drawings, the numeral 10' designates generally a salespromotional card embodying the features of the invention and including a rectangular sheet of relatively thin low tensile strength paperboard which has flat front and rear faces 12 and 13. The front face 12 has indicia 14 for identifying a business establishment and setting forth information relative to the possible value of the card, and the conditions under which an award is available. In order to require a predetermined amount of patronage or visitations to the place of business of the business establishment sponsoring the card, the front face may have suitable indicia 15 on its longitudinal margins for punching in the usual manner. As shown by the numeral 16, one or more passes or visitations may be printed on the front face. Also, the face 12 may bear a serial number 17 for identification purposes. The card is adapted to have printed thereon a predetermined value in the form of an award or prize, such as a cash amount, which must be concealed until the desired patronage is received or until the business establishment desires to reveal the same.

Indicia 18 designating the amount of the award of the prize is printed at one end of the front face 12 medially of said face and inwardly of one of the end margins. For concealing the indicia 18, a rectangular or square panel or seal 19 of relatively heavy, high tensile strength opaque Leatherette paper or other material overlies said indicia and is of greater area than such indicia so as to extend therebeyond on all sides thereof. Also the seal member or panel is preferably of a somewhat greater thickness than the card so as to be more rigid, more substantial, more resistant to tearing, bending, etc., and so as to prevent ready matching of the stitching in the seal and card by means of which the seal member is secured to the card. Preferably, both the indicia and the panel are black in color. For detachably securing the panel to the card, thread 20 is stitched through said card and the perimeter of said panel. Due to the greater size of the panel, the stitching at its margins is spaced from the concealed indicia to prevent obscuring or defacing thereof. The thread 20 is preferably applied in a zigzag stitch, in order to substantially prevent removal and replacement of such stitching without mutilation of the panel and the card. Since the card may have an appreciable value, it is essential to prevent removal or separation of the panel without detection. Manifestly, it is virtually impossible to remove and replace zigzag stitching, particularly when the seal member or panel is of a more rigid material, without mutilating the panel or otherwise indicating that said panel has been detached sufliciently to reveal the concealed indicia. Of course, the stitching does not interfere with authorized detachment of the panel, but instead facilitates such detachment since the perforations 20a in the lower strength card 11 will provide a perforated tear line for detachment of the portion of the card Within the confines of the stitching from the remainder of the card, whereupon that portion of the card having the indicia 18 indicating the amount of the award thereon may be detached from the seal member or panel for inspection and reading to ascertain the amount of the award.

It will readily be apparent that the ease with which the portion of the card defined by the perforations 20a formed by the stitching extending through the card may be separated from the remainder of the card will prevent unauthorized and premature removal of the seal panel or member without detection. Cutting of the threads 20 by which the seal panel 19 is sewed to the card to remove the seal, and subsequent attempts to resew the seal panel or member to the card can be readily detected, since the tension with which the zigzag stitching is sewed to the card is uniform and it is virtually impossible to re- Patented Sept. 12, 1961 I sew the seal member to the 3 card in exactly the same perforations and with the same stitching tension. This is particularly true where the stitching is run back along a previous line of. stitching along one edgeof the card as shown at 30 in FIGURES 1 and. 3. Since the seal panel is relatively stiff or thicker than the paperboard card 11, it will be difiicult to see where, the stitches extending through the protective panel enter the card 11 and obviously any attempt to replace the zigzag sewingwould result in readily apparent mutilation of the card.

For coacting with the panel 19 to prevent detection of the concealed indicia 18, a block 21 of indicia is printed on the rear face 13 of the card. The block 21 is complementary to the panel, being rectangular or square, and is adapted to register therewith in underlying relation to the concealed indicia. Although subject to variation, the block of indicia is variegated so as to be complementary to the concealed indicia for blending therewith. As shown most clearly in FIGURE 5, the block of indicia includes a plurality of upright or vertical lines 22 in parallel spaced relationship. A pair of entwined helices or spirals 23; extend longitudinally between adjacent upright lines 22 and the spirals are spaced from each other sufficiently to provide a link chain or figure eight design. It has been found that this design blends with the indicia 18 to make it extremely diificult to read said indicia through the card even when the panel is removed. With the panel in place, the alternate rib and cable design of the block of indicia blends with the concealed indicia to such an extent that the same cannot be detected in any manner. Preferably the block of indicia is black for better blendmg.

A modified form of the seal member and method of attachment thereof to the card is shown in FIGURE 6. As shown, the card 111 has a front face 112 identical in all respects to the front face 12 of the card 11, previously described. Indicia designating the amount of the award or the prize to be given by the business establishment to its customer, or to the holder of the card, upon the occurrence of predetermined conditions prescribed on the face of the card, as previously described, is printed in the usual manner on the front face 112 of the card. The indicia so imprinted is concealed by means of a rectangular or square panel or seal member 119, which though shown and described as rectangular may be of circular or other configuration. The seal member or panel 119 is preferably of a relatively heavy high tensile strength opaque Leatherette paper, or other material such as a suitable opaque plastic or the like, which overlies the indicia and extends beyond the area in which the indicia is imprinted and overlying the concealing imprinted indicia on the rear side of the card so as to completely conceal the award indicia. The seal member is secured to the card by thread stitching 120, preferably in a closely stitched zigzag form sewed in such a manner that one set of the apices of the zigzag stitching passes through both the seal member and the card and the other set passes through only the card itself closely adjacent the edge of the seal member. Partial overstitching as at 130 is provided in this form in the same manner as at 30 in the form illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 3 and for the same purpose. The stitches are also preferably formed so closely together that the perforations 120a in the card itself provide an efiective tear perforation strip or line of weakened physical strength in the card along the line of such perforations formed in the card alone which provides a weakened tear strip or line which will result in a detachment of the portion of the card lying within the stitching from the remainder thereof should any effort be made to detach the seal member from the card. Such mutilation or detachment of that portion of the card will be readily detected, and will void the card for the award to be given if such occurs. Furthermore, the provision of the stitching 1220 around the edges of the card in the manner just described will prevent any attempt to lift the seal member or panel in an effort to ascertain the amount of the award imprinted on the card and lying under the seal member. The stitching 120 provides the perforations 120.) in the seal member and 12011 in the card, the perforations 120a forming the tear strip or structurally weakened line in the card which causes the portion of the card defined by the stitching to readily detach from the remainder of the card in the event an unauthorized or surreptitious attempt is made to detach the panel from the card.

Of course, when the card has been punched out in the manner provided by the rules or requirements printed on the face of the card, the seal may be broken under the conditions set forth and the amount of the award determined. The perforations will facilitate detachment of the seal and exposure of the award indicia therebeneath.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory only, and changes in the details of the construction illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

a What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: V

1. A sales promotional card including: a sheet of relatively thin paper board having front and rear faces; indicia on a portion of the front face of said sheet; a seal member of separate thicker material overlying the indicia on the front face of said sheet to conceal the same; means detachably securing the seal member to said sheet, said means comprising threads stitched in a zig-zag manner through the sheet and the perimeter of the seal member whereby the zig-zag stitching of the threads prevents resewing of the seal member to the sheet without leaving evidence of tampering; and means on the rear face of the sheet underlying the indicia on the front face thereof and coacting with said seal membet to prevent detection of said indicia through said sheet.

2. A sales promotional card of the character set forth in claim 1 wherein the zig-zag stitching is overstitched throughout a portion of the stiching securing the seal member to the sheet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,643,406 Finch Sept. 27, 1927 1,713,241 Rice May 14, 1929 2,023,829 Wright Dec. 10, 1935 2,374,723 Barghansen May 1, 1945 

